How to Lose Friends and Alienate People (2008)

“We had no idea that we could get somebody as great as Gillian to play Eleanor. She’s a terrific actress, as she’s proven on the stage in London, in Bleak House on TV, and of course in movies, in Terrence Davies’ film, she was absolutely fantastic. The interesting thing about Gillian Anderson is that, despite the amazing career she’s had – of course all the episodes of The X Files that became such a phenomenal cult series around the world – she has rarely played humor. So she brings a great sense of sophistication to the role of Eleanor.

“Eleanor is in the sassy Bette Davis mould. I always think about, whenever I see Eleanor in her costume strutting around the office, Davis in All About Eve – that sort of cutting, clever wit, and that sort of obsession, so self-obsessed and yet so seemingly caring about other people. She doesn’t simply see Sophie Maes as just another instant meal ticket. She grooms her! Eleanor’s very cagey, very sensitive, very sly, very attractive, and I think Gillian brings all those things to the part.

“There was a little bit of a concern about Gillian being kind of too attractive, because she’s a gorgeous person and a knock-out, but I think she’s played it so perfectly that you really can’t like her very much. She comes across, from the first moment you meet her, as being just not the kind of person you want to hang out with.” Stephen Wooley

“It was witnessing a purely funny script which doesn’t happen very often. I’d recently become a fan of Bob’s after having been exposed, ten years on, to Curb Your Enthusiasm for the first time. The attachment of Simon, who I’ve been a big fan of for a while, also helped.” Gillian Anderson